Day 1: Repeat domestic-violence offenders get off easy in Ohio

Ohio has about eight times as many shelters for animals as for victims of domestic violence. Few other crimes touch as many lives and receive so little attention.

And for so long.

Ohio has about eight times as many shelters for animals as for victims of domestic violence. Few other crimes touch as many lives and receive so little attention.

And for so long.

Thirty-five years ago, Ohio made domestic violence a crime. Yet a four-month Dispatch investigation shows that today, about

45 percent of all 75,000 domestic-violence runs by police end without an arrest, which is close to the national average. Ohio law prefers arrests in such cases, and a few Ohio police departments make arrests in all cases.

Twenty-five years ago, Ohio passed a law requiring police agencies to report domestic-violence runs to the state. Yet today, nearly a quarter of law-enforcement departments ignore the requirement.

Nine years ago, an advocacy group founded by Abigail Wexner presented a report to Franklin County judges showing that repeat offenders are recycled through the courts with little punishment. Yet today, judges rarely give maximum sentences to repeat offenders.

Last year, state lawmakers stalled a bill that would have allowed teenagers to file for protection orders against their abusive boyfriends or girlfriends. Today in Ohio, teens ages 15 to 19 are twice as likely to experience dating violence than they are to be injured in a car crash. The bill is on the move again in the state legislature.

"None of this surprises me," said Nancy Neylon, executive director of the Ohio Domestic Violence Network. As a society, "We still haven't placed accountability at the feet of the batterers. I still hear victim-blaming."

Abuse at the hands of spouses, boyfriends or girlfriends, and family members does not seem to raise public ire in the same way that other crimes offend society.

Thousands of angry calls, letters and e-mails poured into the Columbus Division of Fire this year after a firefighter shot his dogs to avoid caring for them while on vacation.

Kelly Juntunen is sentenced for beating his fiancee after a game of Guitar Hero ended badly.

But public silence followed the Sept. 12 slaying of Columbus resident Christie M. Lyles, shot by the father of her two children.

Sports fans and animal lovers were outraged when former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was indicted on dog-fighting charges in July 2007.

At the same time in Columbus, few cried aloud about the June 2007 shooting death of Columbus' Tiffany E. Patrick, a single mother of four. Her boyfriend killed her, then took his own life. Their 4-year-old daughter witnessed the horror.

A Dispatch analysis of state statistics shows that if police made arrests in all the domestic-violence runs they handled, such abuse easily would pass drunken driving as the state's top crime. Domestic violence currently comes in second.

Ohio laws are far tougher on drunken drivers than on people who batter. Even animal-abuse laws came long before domestic violence was recognized as a crime.

"We need to hold batterers accountable 100 percent of the time," said Karen S. Days, president of the Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence.

While Ohio has made strides to combat domestic violence, state laws give police officers, prosecutors and judges a lot of latitude. How domestic-violence victims and batterers are treated varies widely from county to county, cop to cop, and judge to judge.

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Advocates say Franklin County is "doing better than most" in dealing with domestic violence, largely because of a network of free help for victims to address their legal, emotional and physical needs.

"I shudder to think of what happens in counties" with fewer resources, Days said.

Few of Ohio's 88 counties have enough support for victims. Some don't even have a shelter.

The Dispatch investigated the state of domestic violence in Ohio through analysis of reports and data from numerous sources, including the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, the Ohio Supreme Court, Franklin County courts and Ohio law-enforcement agencies.

The investigation found flaws and gaps in Ohio laws and policies that lead to a culture of indifference and tolerance. Among the findings:

The crime costs the state more than $1 billion a year in medical expenses and social services.

Domestic violence overwhelms the courts with requests for civil-protection orders, also known as restraining orders, and the orders are sometimes flimsy protection at best.

The legal system allows some repeat offenders to walk away from charges with little, if any, punishment, despite long histories of battering.